VA land leases are millions of dollars below market value, Trump administration says

UCLA, a private school in Brentwood and a parking company jointly paid about $ 2.3 million a year to lease land at the market value of Veterans Wester Wester Los Angeles, the Trump administration concluded in a new report.

The report, filed with the US 9th District Court on Friday, shows a reversal of the VA’s opposition from parts of the federal judge system last year that ordered those temporary housing and 50.

The VA filed an injunction, but, after holding a hearing in April, a free trial court will rule. In May, President Trump issued an executive order calling on the VA to provide housing for 6,000 people on campus, a dramatic increase from a district court order.

In a cover letter to the Court of Appeals, Department of Justice Attorney Daniel Wik did not suggest that the VA was filing an appeal, but described the report as an update. “

Trump’s order, although it asserted that the VA was leasing property “to private parties, private companies and the baseball team of the University of California,” did not directly address whether the lease was market additions, “it did not address at all whether the lease violated the West Los Angeles Leasing act of 2016 that regulates the use of VA land.

This report, which was also sent to the House Committee on Veterans’ on Friday morning, said that a complete review of the VA and revealed the provision of financial services that fail to perform UCLA’s activities such as recruitment. “

Preliminary findings were made “based on the highest judgment and practicality of the identification and review of relevant land sales data and land lease data.”

The conclusion was that annual market taxes will be $ 30,269,500 for more than 22,0,86,500 acres of 10,8,888,000 acres leased through SafeTyPark Inc. $48,464,000 in total.

“However, beginning in September 2024, Va received a combined $1,719,360.84 in annual ramp-up from rentals,” an amount less than 5% of the appraised market value.

Brentwood’s school lease requires $850,000 in annual rent at 2.5% every three years, the report said. UCLA paid $320,844 in nine months.

Brentwood School has provided in-kind services through its facilities and Veteran services, all valued at $918,000 per year. UCLA offered services through a family resource center and a mental health and social care center, it said. In both cases, the report said, the VA could not confirm whether services were provided or if the assessment was accurate.

The Brentwood school released a statement Monday saying it wants to ensure its relationship with veterans and the federal government continues to grow to meet the full needs of veterans. Since Oct.

The UCLA Athletic Department and SafetyPark did not respond to requests for comment.

Mark Rosebaum of the public counsel of Pro BOBO, who represents the veterans in the case – said that he had not decided whether to submit any answer to the 9th round but to finish the end of the report.

“As appropriate for this case, this report affirms the District Court’s decision that our government must provide housing for all veterans so they can access the medical services they need,” Rosenbaum said. I hope, [Tuesday] it will be the last veterans day where veterans will be at home on the very real streets of Los Angeles. “

After receiving this report, the House committee chaired by Veterans’ Affairs Mike SOST (R-RELY.

“It is clear that the VA has been held accountable for leasing land that could not be used to directly benefit veterans,” Bost said. “Instead of paying market value in Brentwood, California, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the nation, the University of California at Los Angeles has used baseball tickets.”

Anthony Alleman, Executive Director of Vets Advocacy, a non-profit group that is designing a VA CAMPUS lawsuit implementation plan built under the previous lawsuit, said rent enforcement could disrupt access to more benefits for Veterans.

When the long-planned housing construction on campus was delayed by financial constraints, he asked why the Layholder’s money was not reported and the money was used to pay for new construction?

The two maps included in the report provided the first public version of the plan to use the national agency to include 120 days of Trump’s order.

The first map identifies buildings in planning and development to provide 2,000 new beds in the first phase. The second map includes some details but shows the use of the Brentwood school and UCLA buildings, as well as LA City Park, to reach 6,000 beds in phases two and three. No time or details on specific properties have been included.

“It’s paint numbers, not a system,” Almman said.

The first map, he said, is consistent with the Master Plan already in place, while the second map is only conceptual: “It doesn’t tell you how it’s going to get there.”